How I See the Web

Leila is moving on to the production side of the new media business and I’m starting a new search for an assistant to help me as Head of New Media and SVP in Business Affairs at ICM. Interested in helping disrupt and create a new industry? Here’s what I’m looking for in an ideal candidate (some of this is recycled from my last search, but it works, so why fix it):

You have to be passionate and knowledgable about movies, TV, videogames, music, new media platforms, internet culture and books. Experience on the desk of an agent, manager, development exec or attorney is a plus. You have to be smart, punctual, organized, pro-active, good-humored, have thick skin, work well with colleagues and cater to the whims of the really famous and the self-important people that hover about them. My desk is busy and we will be working with a number of Academy Award, Golden Globe, Emmy and IAWTV Award winning clients, so being able to handle my schedule as well as the schedules of many clients is essential. Knowledge and participation in social media is a requirement of the position.

It helps if you want to work at an agency to be an agent, but it’s not absolutely required for this position.  A college degree is necessary, but where you went to school isn’t that important. Attitude, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn count for a lot more.

The job is in Century City/Los Angeles and I’ll need you to start right away. Interested or know someone who is? Your first test is being able to contact me and send over a resume. Look forward to hearing from you.

Scotte Ellis, me, Chris Pirillo, Jay Batson, Dave Curlee and Lee Odden think we have the Right Stuff.

Had an amazing adventure with the US Army’s Golden Knights parachute team recently. I was attending Open Camp (a great technology and social media conference organized by Cali Lewis and Jon Pozadzides) and was invited to jump with The Golden Knights as “an incentive.” It was an an easy yes for me as I figured that when the world’s best at something asks you to join them, you should pretty much always agree.

I ended up doing a tandem jump in Dallas with the very capable SSG Jon Ewald on August 26, 2010. It was my first experience skydiving and the Golden Knights made the whole experience feel safe and exhilarating. Thanks to John Pozadzides, Cali Lewis, SFC Dave Herwig and Lt. Col. Joe Martin for making this all possible.

Check out the video below and look how my feet look for solid ground as I leave the plane. Involuntary hilarity. Many more photos from my jump are on Flickr.

Again, this image has nothing to do with the job.

UPDATE: The position has been filled and balance has been restored to the universe. Thanks to everyone who inquired about the job and sent over resumes.

Here we go again!

My amazing assistant Katy has taken a wonderful position on the film production side. She’ll be working alongside a prominent producer on the Warners lot. Great for her, but terrible for me!

So I’m looking for a new assistant.  Last time I posted about the position, I got a great bunch of resumes and and found Katy, so this seems to work. Here’s what I’m looking for in an ideal candidate:

You have to be completely wild about movies, TV, videogames, music, new media, internet culture and books. Experience on the desk of an agent, manager, development exec or attorney is a plus. You have to be smart, punctual, organized, good-humored, have thick skin, work well with colleagues and cater to the whims of the really famous and the self-important people that hover about them. My desk is busy, so being able to handle my schedule as well as the schedules of many clients is essential. Knowledge and participation in social media is a plus in my book.

It helps if you want to work at an agency to be an agent, but it’s not required.  A college degree is necessary, but where you went to school isn’t that important. Attitude, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn count for a lot more.

Interested or know someone who is? You know how to find me.

Live from UCLAW

Last week I participated in a panel discussion at the UCLA School of Law on Social Media and The Legal Professional. We discussed the benefits and pitfalls of incorporating social media into the practice of law with particular emphasis on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. I did a live broadcast of the event via Ustream and 63 people dropped by to watch the discussion. The recording of the whole panel is here.

Honoring excellence in original web television

The 2nd Annual Streamy Award nominations were announced yesterday by the International Academy of Web Television (of which I am a member and it’s current Secretary). ICM represented clients and projects garnered 25 nominations in 34 categories. I’m honored that I help represent such wonderfully talented people. A new industry is being formed and we’re watching it bloom. See you at the award ceremonies on April 11th.

The Internet is Serious Business

I’ll be going to SXSW Interactive and speaking on the subject of packaging and selling digital content. I’m arriving Friday night and leaving Monday evening. If you see me, come up and say “hey”. SXSW is a great opportunity to meet with some of the smartest people working in the technology and new media industries. Relationships formed there result in business opportunities later.

Pro Tip: bring your iPhone charger and carry it with you. What with the all the Twitter and Gowalla and Facebook and Foursquare going on, you’ll need to recharge throughout the day. Also with so many smartphones invading Austin, wifi and 3G coverage has been terrible in prior years, so try turning off 3G for better connectivity. Worked for me.

FitBit & Nike+ SportsBand. Always watching. Always tweeting.

I am cyborg.

More than a few of you have noticed recents tweets from me along the lines of: ran 5.18 mi on 1/31/2010 at 4:43 PM with a pace of 7’40″/mi http://bit.ly/caBEXv . Actually, the tweet didn’t come from me; it was automatically generated from NikePlus.com after plugging in my Nike+ SportsBand to my PC. I authorized Nike’s site to connect to my Twitter account and so now every run gets measured by the SportsBand and the data (distance, time and pace) uploaded to Nike where a beautiful graph and running tweet get generated for your amusement. Why would I do this? Why would I want to share something as mundane/vain as my training log with everyone on Twitter?

It was a good run. For me anyway.

Motivation.

Knowing my run training is transparent and my stats out there for anyone to see is a great motivator during the inevitable times of a run that I want to ease off, catch my breath, relax a little. It’s not that every run I do is a full-on sprint, but I do have a goal in mind every time I put on my running shoes. Sometimes it’s to complete a certain distance, sometimes it’s speed and sometimes I just want to stretch my legs. In any case, the knowledge that you’ll get the results of every run keeps me very goal oriented. You’re watching and that’s motivating.

Along those lines, I’m also fascinated by that black and blue device in the photo – the FitBit. You attach it to yourself (I keep mine on my belt) and it uses a motion sensor to track your every step. During the course of a day it counts the number of steps you’ve taken, the distance you’ve traveled by foot and the approximate amount of calories you’ve burned based on the level of your activity. It connects wirelessly to a base station attached to your computer and uploads the data to FitBit.com. You customize the algorithm in the device by specifying your age, sex, height and weight on the site and the FitBit adjusts accordingly. From all the data, FitBit calculates your daily Activity Score and then compares it to everyone else using the device. I’m sorta competitive, so knowing that raising my activity level will raise my rank turns fitness into a game that I get to play with everyone else using a FitBit (Nike+ offers similar comparisons and motivating challenges on their site based on their gadget). After two weeks of use, I’m scoring right at the 50% level among all FitBit users. Grrr. How annoying! Must be better than the masses!

FitBit data after a 5 mile run. Total slug before and after.

OK, that last sentence was perhaps a little too revealing, but really that’s the point in using these things. They motivate me by sharing my performance with you and frankly, by doing that, these gadgets make training fun.

Two hours from my Christmas Eve with family. Shot in my brother’s kitchen using my iPhone and iTimeLapse. Happy 2010!

Smoooth

This is by far the best best shaving cream I’ve ever used. Proraso is an Italian brand that’s been around since 1926. I used to be a dedicated fan of  Kiehl’s White Eagle, but after reading about Proraso on some hipster shaving blog, I decided to try it (don’t bother asking me why I read hipster shaving blogs).

Anyways, loved it from the first shave. It smells great and only a small dab lathers up incredibly well. Lubrication is by far the best I’ve experienced. It’s also fairly inexpensive – $11 for a tube that will last you 6 months. It’s made with Eucalyptus, Menthol, and Glycerin and leaves your face tingling and super soft. Afterwards, you’ll smell like Marcello Mastroianni. Which is kinda cool.

You can find Proraso Shaving Cream at Amazon and at C.O. Bigelow.

This picture has nothing to do with the words below.

Summer is fast approaching and  I need an intern to help me do interesting things in new media. The perfect intern candidate is a whip smart college or grad school student who is completely conversant in social media and online entertainment in its many present and emerging forms, must have a car, must live in Los Angeles for the summer, be willing to work for free at least 4 days a week and must receive school credit for their summer internship here. Geek cred is definitely a plus!

If chosen, you’ll be part of ICM’s summer internship program and will be working directly for me and networking with all the other interns from the motion picture, television and music departments in our LA office. It’ll be a rewarding and challenging experience (especially the working for me part). Interested? Submit your resume and I’ll get back to the candidates I want to interview.  Carry on.